Staff members working in impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's office were turned away yesterday morning (October 22) when they reported for duty at the Harambee House Annex in Nairobi.
Those who spoke to the Nation said that they arrived at work and found security officers manning the building. The officers were from the Rapid Deployment Unit.
"They told us to go home until further notice," said one of the senior directors working in Mr Gachagua's office.
The few who were lucky to get into the building, having reported in the wee hours of the morning, were greeted by new locks on their office doors. They were forced to leave.
The no-nonsense officers manning the building did not allow anyone to take videos or pictures. Journalists were also not allowed to conduct interviews.
In a statement issued by Principal Administrative Secretary Patrick Mwangi and copied to Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, all T and U grade officers were asked to proceed on leave.
"Following the ongoing constitutional process involving His Excellency the Deputy President, it has been decided as follows: all officers in job groups T and U are hereby instructed to go on compulsory leave with immediate effect," the memo reads in part.
The Nation contacted Mr Gachagua's Head of Communications Njeri Rugene, but she did not respond to our calls or messages.
The scenario is almost similar to what happened when Mr Gachagua took office after winning the 2022 General Election on a joint party ticket with President William Ruto .
After being sworn in, Mr Gachagua sacked employees who worked for Dr Ruto, who was the DP under former President Uhuru Kenyatta , and replaced them with the new team that was blocked from office on Tuesday.
A source privy to the matter, who spoke in confidence for fear of being victimised, said efforts to persuade Mr Gachagua to let them continue working failed as he wanted people loyal to him.
"It was a difficult moment, efforts to plead with him to change his mind and let us continue with our work at the DPs office did not bear fruit. Fortunately, we were all transferred to other offices," said one of the victims of the changes.
A senior official who worked in the same office was shocked at the way he was excluded and when he tried to find out why he was so quickly replaced.
The officer was lucky enough to be reassigned by President Ruto and is now working in another country.
Similarly, security officers he found in the same office had to be replaced and he put together a team of those he preferred to work with.
"No one was spared, even the security team was changed and they had to be redeployed to other areas," the source said.
Mr Gachagua brought in a chef who had worked for him at his private residence and who used to prepare his meals. The changes made by the political leader shocked the workers, who wondered what had happened.
The changes were made after it emerged that some state employees were leaking information that was considered confidential.
On Sunday, Mr Gachagua, speaking after leaving Karen Hospital, alleged that attempts had been made to poison him. He also said there had been two plots to kill him. One took place in Kisumu while the other in Nyeri.
"On August 30, while I was in Kisumu, there was an attempt on my life after my food was poisoned. Fortunately, we found out in time. The second time was in Nyeri where I was meeting the Kikuyu Council of Elders," he said.
On Monday, the DP was asked by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to record a statement on the allegations so that investigations could begin.
In a letter dated 21 October 2024 and written by J.K. Marete, Mr Gachagua was directed to appear and give information on the allegations he made on Sunday when he left the Karen Hospital where he was admitted for four days.
"On 20 October 2024, during a press conference, you publicly stated that there had been several assassination attempts on your life," the letter read in part.
The letter also referred to his statement that on 30 August 2024, while he was in Kisumu, undercover security agents entered his room and one of them attempted to poison him.
However, the DP told the media that he managed to learn what was happening and escaped the attempt on his life.
Mr Gachagua was impeached by members of parliament and senators following a motion tabled by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse.
The lawmaker submitted a 100-page document stating that he had sufficient evidence to support his case and prove that Gachagua was unfit to remain in office. This culminated in a debate on his motion in the National Assembly.
Gachagua faced 11 charges, including making reckless statements likely to affect national unity, unlawful enrichment, insubordination and abuse of office.
